Words

    I am noticing lately how hard it is to convey thoughts using just words. Concepts that are clear as a bell in my head turn into verbal pablum when I try to express them. Prime example was after yesterday's level II brown belt class. In talking with the brown belts afterwards, I tried to express what I saw during class. What a load of babble I ended up spouting. It was actually a little upsetting to me. To top it off, during open training, I tried to explain what had been written on the white board at the back of the training hall. Wow, it felt like my brain had left the building and put drunk squirrels in charge of my mouth. Thankfully Sihing Ward was right there and he saved my absolute lack of coherency with one word (that word was "timing"). Gives me a new appreciation for the Herculean effort the instructors put in every class to try and teach us Kung Fu. My hats off to you, bravo.

   So what to do about this. I have no really useful idea. Am I over thinking, under thinking, not thinking? Am I being to deep, to shallow, to "sassy"? It definitely causes a level of anxiety in me that is an impediment to communicating clearly with my fellow Kung Fuers. I find myself hesitating now to engage in conversations in fear that I will say the exact opposite of what I mean. 

🤔🤔🤔

   After reflecting on this for a minute, I am going to treat it like any other training. Start slow, develop a base level of skill, then practice practice practice. So if you see me talking to myself in class, I'm not losing it (okay, maybe a little), I am practicing my communication skills. Today I will practice defining a Horse stance verbally, clearly and concise. No short cuts, no skipping minuet details, I will treat it the same as if I was doing it physically, just with words not motions.